2011 Tour De France Stage 17: Boasson Hagen Claims Win, Voeckler Loses Time

As the Tour slipped in to Italy today, we were treated to an action replay of yesterday’s stage—sort of.

As with Stage 16, a large, non-threatening breakaway formed and was allowed to succeed with the contenders firmly ensconced within the safety of the peloton.

As with yesterday, it was Alberto Contador who took the initiative attacking hard on the final climb of the stage. He was immediately covered by everyone and this time failed to consolidate a gap before the peak of the climb.

Contador then decided to try his luck on the descent and, with Sammy Sanchez’s assistance, managed to put a small gap on his adversaries by screaming down towards the finish at breakneck speeds, only to be swallowed up within sight of the finish.

The only person to lose time on the descent was race leader Tommy Voeckler who misjudged a bend and ended up visiting the back garden of a roadside house, ultimately losing 25 seconds to the rest of the top seven.

Voeckler now has only one minute 18 seconds on Cadel Evans and is well within the ability of Evans to claim that time on the time trial alone.

Elsewhere on the stage, Sylvain Chavanel tried in vain to claim a French stage win while Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed his second stage win of the tour and made amends for getting beaten by his compatriot, Thor Hushovd, in yesterday’s stage.

Even the Schleck brothers—Andy and Frank—had a good day on the descent, obviously because of the pleasant weather.

The riders now take on the two biggest stages of the Tour and the ones that have long been identified as the key stages.

The mantle of favourite must now rest on the shoulders of Cadel Evans as he now only has to sit on any attack that may eventuate. That said, Evans has said previously that he doesn’t like racing in the Alps.

The climbs are bigger, steeper and much colder, but you don’t win the Tour de France without doing well in the Alps.

In 48 hours, the picture will be very much clearer as to who is likely to take out the race. Tomorrow is going to be a big, big day!

Jersey holders after Stage 17

		181	VOECKLER Thomas	TEAM EUROPCAR	73h 23' 49"
		171	CAVENDISH Mark	HTC - HIGHROAD	320 pts
		38	VANENDERT Jelle	OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO	74 pts
		118	URAN Rigoberto	SKY PROCYCLING	73h 31' 25"
			TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO		219h 41' 46"

Standings after Stage 17

1.	VOECKLER Thomas	TEAM EUROPCAR	73h 23' 49"
2.	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 01' 18"
3.	SCHLECK Frank	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 01' 22"
4.	SCHLECK Andy	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 02' 36"
5.	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 02' 59"
6.	CONTADOR Alberto	SAXO BANK SUNGARD	+ 03' 15"
7.	CUNEGO Damiano	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 03' 34"
8.	BASSO Ivan	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	+ 03' 49"
9.	DANIELSON Tom	TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO	+ 06' 04"
10.	URAN Rigoberto	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 07' 36"